once narrow lead over mitt romney has now widened considerably. in ohio, the president has moved out to a 10 point lead. ohio is traditional been key to any republican presidential victory. in florida, which is another crucial state for the gop, the president is now up by 9 points. in pennsylvania, the president is ahead by 12 points. the polls were conducted in the past week for the "new york times" and cbs news. what's caused this surge in the polls and why does the president seem to be pulling away? ktvu's ken wayne is live in san francisco with some answers to that, and also why this first debate next week is so critical. >> reporter: frank issue number 1 is the economy. many americans believe it's heading in the right direction. mitt romney has been relentlessly pounding president obama about the economy. he did it again today in ohio. >> i don't believe we can afford four more years like the past four years. >> maybe they haven't been happy the last four years. maybe they were disappointed with obama, but generally, they think we're on the right path. >> reporter: we found peop

election. volunteers from both the obama and romney camps have been canvassing neighborhoods hoping to attract those early voters. >>> in his weekly internet address, president obama blasted republicans in congress for blasting a vote to help homeowners refinance their mortgages. >> but republicans in congress work to keep it from even getting to a vote. and here we are seven months later still waiting on congress to act. >> mr. obama says the plan would save many homeowners on average $3,000 a year on their mortgages. >>> governor jerry brown today said he had vetoed a bill that would have banned disrupting cell phone service without a court order. the bill was authored in the wake of a decision by b.a.r.t. last year to cut cell phone service in an effort to disrupt a planned protest. brown says that the bill could quote divert attention away from a true emergency by requiring the court order. the governor urged the lawmakers who authored the bill to work on an amended version of the bill. >>> california lawmakers will no longer get a discount on vanity license plates under a law sign